NaktiesKarys grinded for…fish. Yes, Premium wallet holds all kinds of flowers as well fish. The day has passed in fishing, catching all kinds of stuff and exchanging it into Festival tokens.

Had nothing more to do – went to Annuminas (Evendim) to grind for Wardens of Annuminas reputation items. Fight was long, but at the end I had 64 Rings of Numenor (+700 reputation) and some 150 Black badges (+50 to reputation). All were handed to DunedanMule. And then DunedanMule advanced by 2 reputation levels, being close to Kindred.

Lotro forums went on upgrade, something new is to be introduced at the the begining of the August. Till then – only temporary forums, but users are active there.

And so the day has ended with senseless grind for so-called festival (almost everyone dislikes it for being dull). I had 1810 Turbine points (some 685 remains to be grinded) and 91 token (19 remain to be grinded). Killing Angmarim was fun – rest of the day was kind of dull. Summer is a season of inactivity when I do need activity with raids, hunts or instances. Day was…mediocre…in Lotro.

WoneH continued her travels, doing all deed she could, mounting temporaly horse and visiting Shire/Ered Luin ruins and farms, gaining valuable Turbine points. Almost all easy Bree deeds are completed, except Sickle-fly slayer (advanced), upkeep for a house paid, travelling potions for Naktieskarys purchased…and still some 400 silver coins left.

NaktiesKarys went to Angmar, doing deeds there. Wighs killed, all 300 of them, worms too. This hunt provided with reputatio items and, of course, some gold. Then went to Sarnur where I met one player. We teamed, as I hunted for First Age relics. We went through all the monsters and then he asked what was beneath. I knew it, but showed him: snow trolls, snow beasts, any of them with some 8000 hp. Even as I outlevelled them – fight was hard, especially when I had to deal with 2-3 monsters at once. My colleague helped a lot with healings and I had to watch that mobs attack me, not him. His pet helped too, bravely biting any monster. We fought untill entered one hard dungeon:I could not do much damage to any troll, we were defeated and had to go. However, this run was very spectacular. I believe this player had some fun as well as experience.

I also went to Barrows to grind for Mathoms and cordolan trinkets. Hunt was good, Cordolans dropped and even sturdy steel key (have 2 of them in the vault waiting for higher level loot box).

Then the time for so-called “festival” came. Grabbed hobby, bought fishing rod and went fishing. There are 4 places to fish: Bree (near skirmish camp), Shire (near Bywater), Elven Ered Luin (Celondim) and Thorins Hall. NaktiesKarys’ experiences: initially 19 tokens, next day 37, next day 62. DunedanMule earned lousy 4 and within 3 days will get 10. WoneH was very productive earning 30 tokens in one day. Festival goals:

Lothlorien map (10 tokens)

Ettenmoors map (10 tokens. purchased)

Caras Galadhorn map (10 tokens. purchased)

Northern Barrows map (10 tokens. purchased)

Steed of Midsummer (40 tokens)

Summersdays steed (20 tokens)

Caparicon (40 tokens)

So, DunedanMule will buy the last map and then my NaktiesKarys would have to grind for the last 38 tokens. After that I will abandon festival: it’s too boring, too grindy with too little fun. Sit down near lake, catch weed and wait for any good fish to be caught. You have to catch some 6-15 trash fish/weed before you get one festival fish. I thought it was my problem, but other players do confirm this.

Kinship provided me with huge numbers of Thorins Hall reputation items. Now I have 200 First age relics, 200 Cordolan trinkets: they will give my new toon 100 Turbine points immediately.

There are questions about Rise of Isengard expansion (looks like Dragoich raid is broken and buggy), but still no answers if I should purchase expansion or quest pack.

And so weekend has ended. I had some fun, knew basic about fishing. Despite very grindy and boring “festival” – life was good in Lotro.

NaktiesKarys succesfully hunted in the beautiful, icy land of Forochel. Dourhand traitors – first. They thought they were save in so-called “Icy mines”: they were wrong. Initially I ran solo, slaughtering every Dourhand and looting almost anything. Then, 2 more players came, invited to Kinship and we started a slaughter. No Dourhand was spared, every one was killed and soon we ran out of them: had to run outside, kill everything, return to previous hunting area. I scored some 200 kills this way, other members of the group finished their deeds too. Experience and fun were great: a group was really good.

After some repairs and selling – time for the worms. They made a colony near one town, so I went there, fighting sometimes 4 of them, killing named one (with 8000 hp) several times. Loot was good, at the end bags were full and so loot box – but killing deed was finished.

Dourhands provided me with valuable items – Thorins hall reputation ones, called First age relics. They drop both Forochel and Thorins Hall rep items, so hunting traitors is kind of….profitable. WoneH soon became Kindred with the Thorins Hall. And using all of Lossoth reputation items helped DunedanMule to become Neutral (well, Lossoth distrust you, so you start as enemy) and then – first normal reputation. More and more Turbine points, I am starting to think Forochel is not as bad in terms of investment as I thought. Paradoxal conclusion: not using accelerator helped a lot. I looted many many things and it paid off.

After that had nothing to do, went to Barrows near Bree. Asked if anyone needed help: no one was. Well, farmed for Mathoms and sellable things then. Kinship chat was turned off, tell option – turned on only at the end of the day.

It turned out so-called “festival” tickets won’t go to Premium wallet. Which means only one thing: good-bye to Cartographer deed (or pay gold for having to touch maps) and to the mounts.

And thus the day has ended. Once again I hunted solo and it wasn’t that bad. Yes, I would have to forget all the offers by Kinship, but it’s not big problem. Maybe I will find some groups. At the end of the day I had 1685 Turbine points – I need only 810 TPs to the goal. Festival is a huge disappointment, silence in Kinship – kind of, but I’m starting to solo everything doable. Things are…good…in Lotro.

Played very little. Moria empty as always, no instances or hunts organized. Oh, there is a Summer festival with mounts (and I collect mounts). Went to the Shire. 3 quests to find missing items. Player competition was large, but finding was not too hard, area was not too big and items were shiny. Ok, 3 tokens earned and I do need some 100 of them (2 horses and some 4 maps). Well then, it’s time for a race. Tried two races, both were impossible to win. Result: no TPs earned, time wasted. Took rest of time to go to Forochel. Nobody will take me out of there untill last deed is finished!

And that’s where Turbine is a perfect example. So, if you want to know how to make the worst festival in any MMORPG, here are some advices:

Make some activities almost impossible to finish. If quest requires 2 minutes, make it 45 seconds. Pay no attention to those who point it out

Make senseless grind, be it flower collecting or grinding. 1 ton of flowers equals to 1 token. Pay no attention to those who may complain

Make time-related quests, like “deliver goods from A, B, C, D…Z towns in 30 minutes” despite the fact it may need at least 45 minutes. Ignore the fact that some players still may require more time.

Make quests that depends only on reactions: whoever first presses letter “W”, catches a fish and you need, say, 500 fish for one token. If anyone complains about it, ignore.

Make quests that consumes tokens and have too little chance to be finished. Pay no attention to any critics.

Make prices of really usefull items – inflated. Pay no attention to those who point it out.

The better festival, the less fun. Grind is a new fun, diversity is greatly discouraged. Ignore anybody who disagress, since they are noobs and haters.

Turbine had a real chance to make good festival: instead, it made a bad grind-fest. The only thing that could save this “festival” is Premium wallet. if all my toons on different servers could contribute to Premium wallet – then it’s ok. It is realistic to earn only 3 tokens a day. So, if I need 2 horses (2×40) 1 caparicon (20 tokens) and some 4 maps (4×10), I need 100 tokens. Each realistic quest has a 5 hours cooldown. Let us say, I could take each quest twice on each toon. Then:
Withywindle: DunedanMule and WoneH: 12 tokens a day; OneA, OneB, OneI on Silverlode – maximum 18 tokens a day; OneC, OneD on Dwarrowdelf – 12 tokens a day. Total – some 40 tokens a day (maximum). Well, it’s a mobilization for entire 3 days of eternal grind doing all the same quests. Very “interesting”, dear developers…

And so the day has ended. Got argued with Kinship, thought about leaving, but I won’t leave. Will remain just a silent member (better to be silent than wage wars) doing everrything solo (tell good-bye to Moria instances). The daw was awfull and dissapointing in Lotro.

WoneH continues her journey through Middle Earth. She tried to do all the easy deeds in Bree land: finished Bree-land adventurer (final) and will probably cancell all left Bree quests. Finished killing those nasty Neeker-breekers and sickle-flies. Next day will use a single-use horse, do Shire/Ered Luin exploration as well as some easy slayer deeds.

NaktiesKarys went to Forochel, did a quest do defeta named Dourhyand in the Icy mines as well as some of its minions. Thought about finishing Dourhand slayer deed, but was wrong: Kinship promised to organize instance and then – deed run. Unfortunately, instance (Skumfil) took veyr long to organize and after killing the boss we werre wiped. After second/third kill an order was given to evacuate. A pity, my slayer deeds did not advance.

And so the day has ended. I had 1635 Turbine points (860 left) and determined to have my NaktiesKarys out of Moria. There are some deeds in Angmar and Forochel that both may be done easier than one slayer deed in Moria. Have to move forward, purchase new regions and advance my clones in terms of reputation.

WoneH continued her journey in Combe/Staddle region. Finished spider slayer (advanced) deed, Bree-land 30 quests and got close to Brigand slayer (advanced). As time was running low, she ran Bree to complete several quests…and used almost all reputation items. Result: Kindred with Bree, Ally to Thorins hall and some medium reputation with the Mathom society. Unfortunately, lacked Mathoms for kindred with hobbits and only some 20 First age relics to finish reputation with the Thorin’s Hall.

This TP grinding toon will probably live longer than many others: I expect to do all the easy killing deeds, ignoring quests (if they are above top adventure deed). After lvl.18 In the Shire it is possible to do slayer deeds easily, same in Ered-Luin. I expect to earn at least 100 more Turbine points this way. July 24th would be a maintenance day, so I’d better hurry today to do as much as I can.

And so the day has ended, I had 1590 Turbine points, only 905 TPs remain to Rise of Isengard expansion (and well, if they offer discount – one region for 695 TPs). Then, I could finally grow up my toon continuing to do epic line quests. The life is very good in Lotro.

NaktiesKarys tried to find any sense or activity in Moria. Found none. Then, I tried to do some grey colour Epic quests. Not too interesting (“please run to our outpost”, “oh please, bring that news to NPCs across the land”), but still some sellable rewards, xp and sometimes – Legendary weapon xp. I ran thorugh several tome I books – finished 11, 12 and looks like now am at 13. Experienced lots of stories that were interesting for me and sad deaths of some Free People. Followed Amarthiel from rivers of Trollshaws to Carn Dum.

And then, The Ring went North, to the beautifull icy world of Forochel. I was satisfied to run there and finish some deeds. Turbine was generous to give away deed accelerator for 90 minutes: used it all to finish 2 deeds, both involving killing 300 monsters and advanced another deed. It was just great, to run and kill, run and kill and loot lots of stuff, including Lossoth reputation items. Completed some other deeds and even got Kindred with Lossoth (despite being unable to defend their people from Mordirith’s wrath). On that occasion – bought local mount.

Kinship organized great hunt in Misty mountains: we went in medium company (some 6 people) and hunted for Trolls and Giants. It was not a hunt, of course: it was slaughter. Any troll/giant had little time to react before hunters rained down arrows, champions unleased AoE attacks and Loremasters unleashed their animals. Lifespan of any monster was some seconds, we spent more time travelling than killing. It was a superb hunt and everyone left very satisfied.

And then I hit level 68. Safe passage to dreadfull Moria, I visited foundations of Stone, did some quests, received rewards…and voila, yet another deed finished.

Time has come for new toon: WoneH was born, human female with brown hair and green eyes, Champion of course. She did some easy TPs for me (spider slayer, brigand slayer, 15 quests in Bree) and today I am expecting to grind some 100 TPs from reputation items only. Deeds will be completed, no doubt. Several times my WoneH ran into dangerous situations where all potions and tomes had to be used, but she is still undefeated.

Kinship organized a horse race which I was unable to take part in. A pity, should have been great fun. Our Kinship is active in this field, very often organizing instances (but more often – for lvl.85).

Now, it is time for dual attack: WoneH does every simple deed and simple quest. The more easy TPs, the better. NaktiesKarys – tries to do some Moria deeds like exploration, or some easy quests.

And so the weekend has ended, I was very satisfied (at least some action and TPs!). Below – my progress, how much Turbine points I earned each day (some days were “blank”, no TPs grinded). Life is just nice in Lotro.

NaktiesKarys stood in Moria, in 21st Hall. Moria was empty, chats were dead: LFF, Regional, Advice – all were silent. There were some players running somewhere, doing something, but no one talked. From Kinship – no one was active in Moria.

I started to feel stuck. In Moria, I have only very grindy slayer deeds, like ill-famous Dragonets (some 300). In other regions – very grindy, very boring deeds. Even accelerators won’t help: if mob is rare, some 24 hours accelerator is needed, but it does not exist.

One lvl.50s Guardian asked for help in one quest. At least some interesting moment: went to him, slayed all monsters en route and my Guardian died only twice, but only because he jumped from too high. Otherwise things were going good: we went to Foundations of Stone, looted many things and he did his quest. I was lucky too – Orcs dropped lots of Champion legendary items: will level up these, deconstruct and preserve experience runes for my top-level weapon.

Was approached by another player, went to kill The Turtle. Things were going fast…and then I found myself in the middle of nowhere. No instances. Almost no talks. Nowhere to go to. Some player asked for Grand Stairs (but I have done these). Otherwise everything was deadly calm as if Moria ws locked and players banned from entering. Folks in the Kin are telling me it is because Moria is “mid-level”, but I have seen same things in almost all other region, except starter ones.

No Turbine points were earned – only minor reputation items which were used by DunedanMule. Looks like I would have to make some 10 single-use toons, grind some 130 TPs on each and delete, and repeat…Not interesting at all, very dull and boring…but this is how I feel now. Nowhere to go to, nothing to do and buying anything for real money is not an option.

WoneG spent her last 1 gold 400 silver coins for reputation items in Auction house and passed them to DunedanMule. Mule increased her reputation: thus, I am buying Turbine points with in-game gold. Pretty good.

NaktiesKarys spent his time in Moria, waiting for any group to form. None was noticed, except Grand Stairs (completed) that needed healer (not me). Kinship was inactive there, me being the only person in Moria. Finally, one person from other Kinship invited me.

It wasn’t Moria instance – just Evendim’s School and Library. It was kind of good one. We were just 3, one lvl.85, another 75 and I – the lowest – lvl.67. Tactic was very good, enabling me to effectively use all available AoE attacks. We swept away all opposition, including named monsters. At my request 2 more enemy archers were killed and one auto-bestowed quest was complete. I also completed several instance deeds: valuable TPs earned. Loot was good – several pieces of jewellery, almost 1 gold coin and some fused relics.

Players on Withywindle are talking about Dragon slayer rewards. Almost everyone is voting for our server’s Kinship. We do hope Lord of the rings online will get awards. It should get.

On the other hand, I was unpleasantly surprised with lack of any activity in Moria. No groups, no talking in chat – just silence. No one wanted any instance and one raid was very hardly formed. Not sure what was happening, but it is very wrong. And I do need activity: need to finish all deeds in Moria to get valuable Turbine points for yet another expansion.

Kinship is preparing for yet another event in Sunday and we are starting to regularly do Helegrod raids. At least some activity in game.

And so the day has ended. I had 1345 Turbine points (1050 to go), finished several deeds. Life is…kind of good…with Lotro.

NaktiesKarys was looking for something to do. Nothing in Bree – rode to Moria, maybe there would I find anything. Nothing there. Rode to Lothlorien for daily genocide, did 6 daily quests, looted Orcish camps, slayed Orcs and defended Lothlorien along with several Elven guards.

Then – rode to Moria, 21st hall again. This time was success, we started Skumfil instance and I was very, very close to finishing oine deed: only 4 more Kergrim to slay. Fighting was good one, there was much loot and very little time: there were moments we left instance, I managed to run to vault…and instance started again. At the end I gathered many reputation items and sellable stuff.

Met one old friend from old Kinship times, a Jeweller. In these old days we used to cooperate: I sent her all Jeweller stuff (precious stones, metals) I had mined. Sometimes asked her to polish some stones for me (since Weaponsmith needs these shinies). Things were going very good this way. Today, I met her alt, we talked a bit. Alt was in a new Kinship (did she leave Dunedains of the North?) and I was more than happy to chat with her.

Our Kinship organizes 2 more events, we are starting to become active in this field. Hope I will be able to take part there (well, at least in one event).

Being unable to do anything in Moria, felt a bit unsatisfied. Logged in WoneG, tried to use my 1 gold to buy reputation items. Will take a look how it ended. Then, went to Barrows to shoot wighs and spiders. Got one combat deed completed and earned 5 Turbine points.

And so the day has ended. It was kind of…grey and dull, except that old friend. And my PC is about to be repaired, so - almost no progress is expected (while I still need >1000 Tps).

NaktiesKarys fought in Moria, partially succesfull, partially – not. Went with one kinship member to 16th hall and could not make it because of huge aggro. I was not able to aid much, she could not hold too long because of horde of Orcs. Had to retreat…and not return, our Kinship was inactive in Moria.

Instead, made two Kinship events, called “Chicken hunt”: gather in the Shire, receive task to find Shire-specific item and whoever arrives first, is the winner.

My NaktiesKarys went for some genocide to Haudth Iarcith, slayed everything, grinding for Mathom reputation items. In the end, some 30 Gift Mathoms and lots of single mathoms were grinded as wella s some gold earned. Few times I encountered…competitors, but it was not a problem.

Later went to Angmar to finish one quest: quest was done quickly, quest item removed from inventory. Saw one Hobbit being chased by undead, saved him – and received question to help him with two quests. First time we went through risky territory and both were killed. Later, took safe route. I took away opposition that could be dangerous to Hobbit, he healed me. We managed to kill one mob with 20.000 hp: Hobbit’s heals saved the fight. Then – two monsters, one Envoy and one Silk lady. Both were dealth with and my Hobbit died only once. Helped another group of players to escort one girl to safety. We were attacked by groups of strong monsters (some 10.000 hp), but were able to defend. Then, I could do worm-slayer deed and even loot some reputation items. Ran into “Seven swords” deed, finished it, got some TPs…but failed quest, since it really requires strong group.

There was nothing more I could do as NaktiesKarys: vault was full of Cordolan trinkets, Gift Mathoms, mathoms, even Barrow iron and silver ore.

DunedanMule used all of the reputation items and got in better rep with Council of the North. She also took all ore and crafted ingots: yet another profit. WoneG took Gift Mathoms, reaching Kindred reputation with Mathom society; she also paid for house upkeep (2 weeks), filled Eastmnet and Rich coal stocks in the vault. Still, some 1 gold to spent and not shure where. Reputation items are crazy expensive (39 gold for 100 Eregion rep items?).

And so weekend has ended. I felt both satisfied and lost: could not do profitable deeds and Isengard expansion is still “far, far awat”. Had 1325 Turbine points – some 1170 to go (oh my, some 9 toons to create/delete). 150 Cordolan trinkets: enough for Kindred rep. with Bree men (and 50 Tps). Life is just good in Lotro.

I do feel happy because my Kinship helps me with every single instance in Moria. Yesterday we went to Grand Stairs. Killed anything in our path, especially monsters for my slayer deeds. Slaying orcs was not so hard, there are plenty of them. Warghs and Trolls were a bit harder, but still made it from second or third run. I was very satisfied with my group, full of strong players – and of my use of all AoE attacks. Hope, it helped a bit.

At the end, Grand Stairs were finished, Warg slayer deeds was finished. Went to hunt Worms – lucky, deed accelerator was still on. Had to travel to Waterworks and kill “deep salamanders”. For some reason simple salamander does not count as worms. Deed finished, received advanced one (240 to go).

DunedanMule used all reputation items that NaktiesKarys looted. Advanced a bit and will advance today. Checked my toons on Silverlode, paid for house maintenance. These toons have only harder quests left…and of course, no horses. One day, I will grow up DunedanMule so that she will do all Shire/Ered Luin deeds.

Also – Turbine removed one strange bug from my toon: had quest in tracker: it was completed, but I could not turn off. Wrote bug report and yesterday it was removed. Thanks, Turbine.

And so the day has ended. I had 1210 Turbine points (lacking some 1285) to go. Have some reserve deeds that are more grindy, but still doable. I left very satisfied: Kinship does help me with Moria, now I am helped with instance every single day. Of course, one day, when I am big tank, I will help lesser players with it. And so far, life is just excellent in Lotro.

While WoneG rests after long grinding weekend – NaktiesKarys continues quests/deeds in Moria. This time was lucky to participate in 2 instances. First was Grand Stairs. We managed to kill everything there, I managed to survive all instance and some of deeds are very close to completion. Side effect: tons of reputation (+30, +50) items, all shipped to DunedanMule.

And then was The 16th Hall. One player from our Kinship volunteered to go with me: he was lvl.80, I – still lvl.67. It was a hard fight. Enemies were everywhere, almost every with some >10.000 hp. I tried my best, using all AoE attacks, spamming all defenses Champion has, from Bracing attack to Dire Need (this nice one “protective shield”). Despite of this, managed to die many times: should monster start paying attention to me, I did not last for long, despite all power/health potions and defenses. How many times had I to run back – 5? 6? Cannot remember now. It was bad. Not because I was defeated and my helper stayed alive: just because when named boss was fighting my friend, I wasn’t able to help.

I reached the final boss with some equipment almost torn apart. We killed boss’ add-ons (failed daily quest this way) and proceeded with the boss. I was killed again, had to run back, collect some “Pestilence Spores” from boss body…and voila, one deed completed, 10 Turbine points gained. Other deed went very close to completion: 114/120 Globsnaga killed.

Was very satisfied with the remark of that lvl.80 player: he told I had powerfull attacks (probably he had in mind AoE ones). Yes, my Champion does invest into Might, paying little attention to other characteristics. At least some positive moment in this instance.

I had a mixed impression about the instance. For 2 players it was hard, especially one monster that used acid (poison?) attacks all the time. However, I gained valuable xp and now do understand how does this instance works. Would I return there after I finish killing Globsnaga? Possibly no.

DunedanMule had hard times in using all the reputation items, hundreds of them (especially low ones). Result – now she lack only some 5-8 thousand points to reach next level just by standing in the vault. A good investment into mule character…

And so the day has ended. I came one step closer to finishing Moria deeds, had 1120 Turbine points and left satisfied with Kinship’s help about Moria. Life is good with a friendly Kinship in Lotro.

WoneG continued her adventures in the Shire. Last slayer deed (Goblin slayer advanced) – finished. Then, had to take this unlucky “Restoring Quick post”, finish 5 quests – and voila, 75 quests in the Shire finished. I was awarded with 25 Turbine points and now WoneG will rest a bit. She did a good grind and deserve some…vacation.

NaktiesKarys stood in the Moria’s 21st Hall. No one was organizing any instances – so just stood anc chatted. One person from former Kinship approached, we talked a bit about ‘old good times’ and he invited me to visit Snowbourne. It is a very nice town in dangerous region, surrounded by Orcish warbands. That player escorted me to the safe lands and there I started my harvesting of Riddermark ore. People in Kin do agree with Tsuhelm’s definition about me – “a dedicated grinder”. It is true: I have will to grind for every single Turbine point and purchase expansion pack.

Things were going very good. I gathered every single ore I could find, made as many ingots as I could. Pure Calenard ore enabled me to produce more ingots, thus speeding up things. Result: I am half way to finishing T8 Weaponsmith mastery (2 anvils).

DunedanMule served as mule again, depositing some valuable stuff and crafting. She needs to reach at least lvl.21 and then start Shire/Ered Luin deeds for more TPs.

Plans for the future are very clear: NaktiesKarys will make his way to level 68, thus making last Moria monsters grey. Then, it would be high time to revisit Moria, make some exploration deeds in Foundations of stone, some slayer deeds in Foundations of Stone…and maybe run through barrows in search for Well preserved Mathoms: WoneG needs Kindred (and TPs for it).

And so the day was over, I had 1110 Turbine points (1385 remain to be grinded). Money was flowing (selling produced weapons was profitable enough) and I had some fun in visiting interesting places in well-looking Rohan. Things are very very good in Lotro.

WoneG went through all the starter regions of Middle Earth. This little brave Champion girl only once ran to barber to change outfits – and then moved forwards, to battles and quests.

Things were going fast. First, free 24-hours horse and completion of most Shire/Ered-Luin exploration deeds. Then, almost all quests in Dwarf lands of Ered Luin (I just had to help these folks, Dwarves are just nice) and finally – deeds in Elven territory. After last Dwarven quest was completed – used Thorins Hall reputation items: yay, Kindred with Thorins Hall! Soon, my free horse has expired and I had to travel by foot. Finished last deed in Ered-Luin: wolf slayer. Just stood near the lake with wolves and killed them one by one.

Time to move to the Shire, land of Hobbitses and evil deed of killing 90 slugs. Started taking every quest available. Deeds were almost autocompleting, sometimes I had to remind myself: “do not hurry, one day NPC will ask to kill wolves, don’t finish deed now”. Killing, escorting, visiting places – all was cool. I knew almost every corner, what NPC will ask and what will happen, but it still was cool. I gathered some 20 Gift Mathoms that were very usefull: gave me 1,5 level of reputation.

There were two things that surprised me: some lvl.76-85 party that hunted lvl.10 flies in Shire, leaving me with nothing (why couldn’t they just invite me so we don’t compete?). Next thing – when I was approached by a player. He entered a huge block of text about his rank 10 Kinship, with website, forums, TS and alike. Asking if I was willing to join. My old kinship and its leader. He forgot I still enjoy creating TP-grind alts. We talked a bit, though I had to refuse his offer – and returned to our adventures.

Finally, two deeds remain: Goblin slayer (advanced) and completion of quests (final; 69/75). Don’t know where would I get those 6 quests (just don’t wanna think about Quick post and Nosey Hobbitses!). However, 25 TPs are too good to miss.

And so the weekend has ended. I had almost 3 gold in treasury. Havce grinded some 1085 Turbine points and am almost 50% done en route to Rise of Isengard. 4 more toons, some work in Moria/Lothlorien – and I could purchase that expansion pack. Life is just great and amazing with Lotro.

WoneG visited Hillshire ruins, completing last deed in the Bree-land (no more quests will be taken there) and is prepared to move to the Shire. Hobbitses, be afraid of TP-hungry grinder…

NaktiesKarys was very succesfull in Moria. First of all, managed to get a group and visit Skumfil twice. Almost all deeds completed and all quests finished in this instance. I was happy there: used all of my beloved AoE attacks, thus helping (at least I think so) my friends when we were surrounded by horde of monsters. One group member called me “DPS killing machine”. Well, that’s the way the Champion lives: forwards to battle, swing swing, slaughter anything around and hope to stay alive… We finished one wing of SKumfil, then started another, killing everything in sight.

After some rest, started Forgotten Treasury. It is a complicated instance since players have to guess “passwrod”: turn the statues in some -random- order. Of course, we had to fight our way through to them, gaining TPs, experience and many loot. When territory was clear, we proceeded with killing remaining monsters. 1 was finished quickly, other 2 – not so: few people fro our group ran into room, door closed and 3 of us were left behind. A pity I could not participate in the battle.

My Weaponsmith won the competition to craft 2 axes. There were two of us, capable of crafting these and I was quickier. Made these weapons easily and felt satisfied: I was usefull to Kinship.

Logged in as DunedanMule and used all the reputation items I looted in Moria: got another level of reputation and some Turbine points.

Atg the end of the day I had 675 Turbine poins, lots of loot sold and felt very satisfied. Everything is going superb, my alts are going to the Shire/Ered Luin, TPs are flowing like a river (2 more Moria instances and I will be very rich) and I am needed for my Kinship. Life is just excellent in Lotro.

WoneG continues her adventures. This time – almost all Bree deeds were completed, excluding “Ruins of Shire”. Used all Cordolan Trinkets to gain Kindred reputation with Bree…and then real life intevened, had to make a pause. Took some use of DunedanMule: she managed to finish Sickle-fly slayer (advanced) and gain me valuable 10 Turbine points. Now I have to wait a bit untill lvl.21 and then all the Ered-Luin/Shire would be safely grey for me.

NaktiesKarys was chating with Kinship and asking if someone organizes Moria instances. Nobody was. A pity, I have so many Moria instance deeds to complete – and the Kinship is not as active in Moria as it was before.

I am starting to think about reputation with the Mathom society:I could possibly achieve more than just first level if I use some Mathoms. When my NaktiesKarys returns to Moria, he will loot every reputation item.

And so the day has ended. I had 685 Turbine points (some 1900 more to go) and getting ready for more points and adventures. Life is just good in Lotro.

WoneG, after visiting barber (she just jad to change her look paying hard earned 9 silver coins) continued her adventures.

Took some quests that helped to finish Orc slayer (advanced) deed. It was just great – come and slay worthless Orcs, sell all loot and grow up fast like a wind. using a bow made this faster. Other quests (visit Grimbiars’ scouts) let me finish Neeker slayer (advanced) deed. While slaying, WoneG grew up to level 20 and immediately recalled to Bree: high time to learn Heavy Armor ability and use some looted armor.

Re-equipped weapons: now have 2 weapons I have looted with less +might, but DPS is better and damage is higher. Also re-equipped armor, sold everything that was not needed: have some 1 gold coin (bright side) and over-flooded inventory bags (dark side).

Tried to run and help somebody in N.Barrows with “lvl.20 rare elite monster”, but when my little girl arrived, it was too late. Well, at least I was determined to fight untill las hp and help others.

I am more than ready for Shire and Ered Luin adventures. Just have to finish all the quests that give reputation with the men of Bree, then – finish with reputation and only then take a long ride, visiting all stables, from Bree to Thorins Hall. I’m not afraid of anything there.

And so the day has ended: a good one, I had 630 Turbine points and some 200 TPs ahead. The world is interesting, I re-discover some things anew – life is just superb in Lotro.

WoneG continued her adventures. Went for some more quests as she forgot that there are Orc killing deeds in Bree: simple killing was easy one, advanced would be no problem. Finished Blade of Renown quest (new shiny axe, yay!) and finally got to level 18. That’s bow using level, my toon is finally capable of decimating any foe from safe distance. At level 20 there would be Heavy Armor, very good skill.

I fought enemies that were sometimes 2 levels above me (me – lvl.17, enemy – lvl.19). Fight was doable and xp was flowing, as well as coins. WoneG has nearly 1 gold by…well, by just doing nothing: questing, deeding, selling unusable stuff. These coins would be very handy in purchasing Eastemnet coal, Rich coal and purchasing for house upkeep.

My strategy would be very simple: to do all quests in Bree that give me xp and reputation with the Men of Bree. When reputation quests end – I will just use my Cordolan trinkets to get to the Kindred. Then, there would be a riding from Bree to Thorins hall, stopping at every stables, discovering all locations needed for deeds. After that (horse will expire, no doubt) there would be questing and slaying.

My toon won’t go to Lonelands since it requires more efftorts than is needed. After all deeds in Bree, Shire and Thorins Hall are completed – WoneG would spent allm her money for my main toons and be deleted.

And so the day has ended, I had some 610 (?) TPs. I left satisfied. Life was interesting with Lotro.

WoneG started her adventure in Lotro world. First positive thing was a new quest in Hunters' lodge near Archet: one NPC offered me to have some rest since my girl was obviously tired.

I rested...only to fell asleep and to be visited by Lady Galadriel. Saw beautifull landscape of Lothlorien and then - lady showed me the menaces that threaten Middle Earth: evil Carn-Dum fortress in Angmar; bridge of Khazad-dum in Moria; and Eastern Rohan where battles goes on every day. These were beautifull vision with the ending: "I saw you in my mirror. Not sometimes. Often". It was a great feeling, very encouraging. Reminded me "Dune 2000" intro where Lady Elara began her monologue ending with "We have also seen you rise to command vast armies bringing peace to Arrakis once. That is the prophecy. That is the future we seek". I do like such things, they are very good and encouraging.

Did some fellowship work: asked for help in protecting one Constable (lvl.24 arrived and helped me), also grouped with lvl.15 Hunter to kill Jasper Mudbottom (too easily he was killed). Declined one offer for fellowship. Paid for house upkeep (150 silver) and will be grinding foir every single coin: need to buy coal for my NaktiesKarys, both Eastemnet and Rich one.

And the rest life of WoneG was TP grind, taking almost every quest and trying to complete every deed possible. Kill that, locate this and so on. Two days and I was lvl.16, equipped with 2 swords made my NaktiesKarys...only problem being armour, since there is too little amror suitable for Champions. Now, I have only few deeds to complete - and then will have to move to the Shire and Ered Luin. Over all I started some 460 TP run on one single toon (410 from Bree-Shire-Ered Luin and 50 for reputation with Thorins hall).

There was a Kinship event in Bree, but I was unable (real life interfered!) to participate.

There are active talks about "treasure event" and almost every second player is unsatisfied with it. My calculations are critised, but on the other hand, such badly though "events" are too hard to predict. Players agree berries are spawning very slow, so slow most of them have to abandon the quest. Also, loot quality is under big question. Looks like Turbine did not hear "Stomp the Shrew" feedback nor have played it on the peak hours. Yet, glad to hear my thoughts are almost 100% confirmed.

And so weekend has ended, I had 605 Turbine points and much more to grind for. Of course, now I have to wait for another Saturday to pay for house upkeep, but by that time I should have finished with all 3 regions. Life is just good with Lotro.